Catholics greet Year of Faith by ringing bells

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - The sound of bells will fill the air in parts of Maine.

The Catholic Diocese of Portland says students and faculty at Catholic schools around Maine will head outside at noon on Thursday. Each will have a bell in hand to ring in the start of what Pope Benedict XVI has declared as the Year of Faith.

That year begins Thursday and concludes on Nov. 24, 2013.

The bells of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland will sound loudly as well to mark the occasion.